Have Questions? We Have Answers.
While we try to keep this as simple as possible, you probably have some questions. Below are the most common questions that we have gotten. If you have one that is not covered here, feel free to get in touch with us we will be glad to answer any that you have.
For a new city campaign – Market competitiveness determines this. Our goal is to start delivering calls ASAP, but in highly competitive markets it may take a weeks or so for calls to start coming in.
For existing campaigns that you take over – calls could be coming in the same day.
When you talk to a new caller give them your direct phone number, do not have them call the tracking number because that will be billed.
You only pay for calls that have a chance to turn into a sale. These types of calls are not counted against your total:
Our call platform does a good job of blocking telemarketing calls, but every once in a while one gets through. If any are counted that you feel should not be, just let us know and we will review the recording to make sure we did not count it incorrectly.
No. We generate calls from homeowners who need a contractor to solve a problem. We are putting the homeowner in direct contact with you.
Think of us as helping your marketing department. Our job is to make your phone ring.
No, “leads” tend to be low quality with low chances of becoming a job…that is more a low-quality prospect than a true lead. They are either picked over and old, sold to multiple contractors, or tire kickers who are not truly ready to spend money. That is not at all like our program.
We are putting people with a problem in direct contact with you. We are selling sales opportunities. People who have a problem and need you to help them provide an opportunity for you to make a sale.
No. You are hiring us to get real leads coming in so you have the opportunity to make a sale. We cannot do that part for you. When a call or email comes in your credit card is charged once the lead is deemed billable.
Just as with any other marketing you are doing, you are not going to close 100% of the calls that come in.
Our job is to deliver exclusive calls to you. When your phone rings we are providing the opportunity to sell, what happens from there is determined by your ability to sell your services.
By not sharing the call with any of your competitors, our partners close a higher percentage of jobs than they do leads from other sources, unfortunately it’s still less than 100%.
There are many variables that impact how many calls will come in during a period of time (weather, seasonality, holidays, etc.). We do not promise any certain call volume or call frequency.
But this is not a subscription program…you only pay for the calls that come in, so no leads means no cost. If we don’t deliver leads you don’t pay (and we don’t get paid).
There is no contract.
If you decide this is not a good fit for your business or it is making you too busy, you can cancel.
On a quick one-to-one comparison it may appear that we are more expensive per call, but quality is more important than quantity. If you do some quick math you will likely find that our leads are not more expensive.
We have customers who say they are lucky if 3 of 10 leads from their big name company are legitimate, the rest are tire kickers. They pay $50 per lead, so for every 10 leads they pay $500 and get 3 legitimate leads ($166.67/true lead). Even at 5 legitimate leads it is $100 per lead.
If a couple of “bad” leads slip through our system that means 8 of 10 are legitimate. If the cost is $75/lead you paid $750 for the 10 leads ($93.75/true lead). That’s a better deal in our book!
In addition our service has 3 built-in advantages over the lower-cost national services:
How many times have you called a “lead” and they were wondering why you called them? Or you were the 5th one to call in the last 20 minutes and now the homeowner is annoyed and takes it out on you. That doesn’t happen with our service because they call you.
How many “big name” leads do you usually have to buy in order to book one appointment? For every 10 of those leads, how many turn into an appointment?
On the other hand, out of 10 phone calls that come directly in to your office, how many of those usually turn into a booked appointment?
We provide incoming calls, not re-sold leads.
Our pricing is not based on selling specific calls. We deliver exclusive, direct-to-you incoming calls and you will have a mix of service/repair calls and replacement/installation calls (just like if you do a mailer or Yellow Pages ad, you cannot control the calls).
With Call Tracking you will be able to look at all of the calls we delivered, look up the revenues generated by those calls and compare the numbers. We are confident you will be happy with the results.
Here is an example (use your numbers if different):
Let’s say that out of 10 calls you are only able to book 6 appointments because your schedule is kind of busy at the moment.
Assume you close 50%, so that’s 3 jobs booked — 1 is a repair and 2 are installs.
1 x $400 = $400
2 x $3,500 = $7,000
Total Revenue = $7,400
While a single repair call may seem expensive on it’s own, the way to look at this service is in total. For all of the calls you get, do you make a profit? That’s what matters.
Those cannot be blocked. We do not interact with the calls; they are sent directly to your office. So, just like other calls you get every day, the callers all have different needs.
Plus, callers who think they only need a repair sometimes need a replacement/installation, so it could be a costly mistake to exclude a call without seeing the problem first.
Maybe.
The calls you get are exclusive to you, but the entire territory may not be.
For example…if you are buying as many calls as we can produce, then you are getting all of them.
But let’s say we are generating 40 calls per month in your area but that is more than your budget can afford. That leaves us with “unsold” calls each month in need of a contractor, so we will find a partner for them.
NOTE: None of the calls are shared or re-sold. If we have multiple customers in a city our call system distributes calls in a round-robin format. If we have two contractors in the program, then you get every other call that comes in. If we have three, then you get every third one. We do not usually get more than two in an area.
Downstream Exclusive Calls is a service of Downstream Digital Marketing, LLC.
Our background is in helping contractors increase revenues. We took the best of our services to create this Pay-for-Performance Exclusive Calls program that delivers homeowners directly to you. We do the marketing, you make the sale.
